The Morgan Family

Over the past year, several documents have come my way (most via other researchers) connecting the William Morgan who married Orra Gathright as a son of William and Priscilla Morgan and a grandson of William and Joyce Morgan. The connection between William (md. Orra) and his parents was fairly easy, since he received a slave named Ned from his father, and then later willed the same slave to one of his children.

The connection between William (md. Priscilla) and his parents was a little more difficult, and I am still not completely certain it is a true one. The linking evidence is a deed dated January 1818 and recorded in Oglethorpe Co., GA Deed Book J, page 9. This land was sold by the heirs of William Morgan of Morgan Co., GA to Elizabeth Hale of Oglethorpe Co., GA, and was signed by Samuel Hay, Robert Morgan, Hardy Morgan, Duncan Cormical, John Cormical, Jesse Morgan, Ritter Morgan, and Thomas Duke. Each of these names presumably is of one of William Morgan's heirs, or a representative of one of his heirs. Samuel Hay was named in William Morgan's will in 1809 in Jackson Co., GA as an executor, along with William's wife, Priscilla; hence, his signature on that deed is probably representative of the interests of William Morgan's heirs (wife, Priscilla, and children).

That last link is somewhat indirect, and I would be happier about it if supporting evidence came to light. Because of my current situation (employed full time, full time single parent), I doubt I will be able to investigate this as thoroughly as I would like within the next few years. At any rate, I will try to find some of the original records and transcribe them so that others may benefit.

By the way, many thanks to Mercer Sherman for first bringing my attention to William and Priscilla Morgan, many moons ago. Also, my thanks to Jean Holley Day for bringing my attention to William and Joyce Morgan, and for sending me copious transcribed (and photocopied original) records concerning that family.

I am truthfully not in a hurry to further investigate the elder two William Morgans, at least not until I gather as many of the youngest William Morgan's records together as I can. Someday soon, I would like to find Priscilla Morgan's family. I went to the new Macon County Public Library in Franklin, NC and was astounded to discover that they had left two valuable assets behind in the old building: the microfiche reader, and the index of marriage records found in the North Carolina State Archives from the earliest days until about 1868 (on microfiche). I had hoped to find some of the early Morgan marriages there, since I know that the youngest William Morgan was born in North Carolina (according to him, anyway) in 1797, and his father's brother, Robert Morgan, married Mary Shelton in Chatham Co., NC in about 1786. But, perhaps it is better that I exhaust the Georgia sources before moving on to North Carolina.